I’m willing to bet your fellow honourees took a little bit more time on their appearance. Some may have even pulled on a clean shirt and tie upon receiving their medal.

Here’s a quick lesson: as a recipient of the Diamond Jubilee award, you were being honoured for your “significant contribution and achievement as a Canadian.”

Being a badass is not a contribution. Being a role model is.

As a mother who has spent money on your concert tickets, watched my daughter lip synch to all your songs and practice her current jazz recital routine to “Beauty and the Beat,” I have always been impressed by your talent and your modesty as a “kid from a small town in Canada.”

Did your family know how you showed up to meet the PM? Surely they would have marched you right back to your dressing room, where your stylist and your hairdresser would have swagged you up properly for the occasion.

Sure, I realize you may have been in the middle of rehearsal for your concert in Ottawa, the nation’s capital, that night. Naturally, the timing would have made it convenient for the feds to give you the award and somehow you managed to squeeze it into your busy schedule.

But next time? As a respectful Canadian, please clean up a bit, will you?

Wearing what everybody else wears to an official awards ceremony may not sit well with a trendsetting artist like you.

And if you don’t like it? You can always cast your ballot for the Liberals in the next election. Now that you’re old enough to vote.

Elissa Freeman is a writer and PR consultant. Living in Toronto, Canada, she is a regular contributor to PR Daily & canada.com. Named: Twitter's Top 52 PR pros, Top 75 Badass Females, Top 150 Toronto... read more Influencers.View author's profile